“Where are the paintings?” A not uncommon response heard from first-time visitors to the Julius Lowy Frame and Restoring Company, Inc., the venerable hundred and four year-old firm nestled in on East 80th Street. This question, however, is quickly dispelled when viewing Lowy’s beautifully organized exhibition “A Change of Taste: From The Gilded Age to the Craftsman Aesthetic” chronicling the changes in American picture frames from the mass produced 19th century ornamentation to the refined artistry of the Arts and Crafts movement. The exhibition examines the elevation of frames as an “objet d’art” and its stylistic evolution starting with an outstanding group designed by The Gilded Age’s foremost architect Sanford White [1853-1906].

Fig 13
L7124 Gilt composition frame of receding profile with raised grille panel, continuous front leaf-and-berry ornament, and acanthus leaf corners designed by Stanford White and made by Joseph and Alexander Cabus ca. 1890 Sight 20 x 17 ¾ inches; width 7 1/4 inches Collection of Lowy.

Fig 5
L8001 Gilt composition tabernacle frame with decorated entablature supported by fluted pilasters designed by Stanford White for Portrait of a Lady by Abbott H. Thayer and probably made by the Newcomb-Macklin Company.
Label on verso reads: Portrait of a Lady / Collection of
John Gellatly, 34 West 57th Street. Collection of Edgar Smith.

White considered frames an integral part of interior décor and therefore a work of beauty in its own right. His pivotal role beginning in the later part of the 19th century helped transform the burgeoning American-created designs by extending the plane of the painting with ornamentation that was more delicate as to rival the artwork it encased. One exceptional eye-catching frame that became his trademark has grille ornament expanses of pierced wire coated with gesso that appear woven to stand apart giving the illusion of seeing light from inside of the frame (shown below).

Fig 24
L7129 Carved and giltwood mirror frame in the Florentine style with pierced scolling acanthus leaves by the Boston frame maker Walfred Thulin. Signed on verso, Thulin (with the Thulin cipher) Early 20th century Outside dimensions 23 1/2 x 17 1/4 inches Collection of Lowy.

Fig. 50 – right side
L5076 A rare carved and gilt frame by Charles Prendergast with ogee profile and intermittently spaced floral carvings alternating with plain burnished ‘mirror’ panels in the Venetian style. The Italian technique of punchwork or bulinatura is used around the floral carvings. This frame resembles a classic Venetian carved frame with an ogee profile dating from the early 18th century sometimes referred to as a ‘Canaletto’ frame. Hermann Dudley Murphy used this frame style as well and was also influenced in many of his designs by Italian techniques and ornamentation. Signed and dated on verso “Prendergast 1905” Sight 25 5/8 x 15 ¾ inches; width 4 inches

The excellent catalogue includes text on several of the early 20th century craftsmen/artists represented – Charles Prendergast/Max Kuehne, Walfrad Thulin, and Newcomb-Macklin Co., among others, who brought an individuality to designing frames with a modern sensibility that reflected America’s independent spirit. Two exhibitors contributed essays – Edgar Smith a leading collector of decorative arts of the Beaux Arts and Crafts period whose attraction to adaptations of traditional forms evolved into collecting American frames, and gallery owners Tracy Gill and Simeon Lagodich, both of whom are former artists, talk about their “calling.”

Fig 45 –right side
L6400 Carved and gilt cassetta frame with basketweave outer corner designs and arabesque design in panels leading to corners and centers in the Renaissance style by the Newcomb-Macklin Company.
Early 20th century Sight 20⅞ x 14¼ inches; width 7⅛ inches Collection of Lowy.

Fig 33 right side
L5771 Carved and gilt frame incorporating crossetted corners and eclectic ornamentation of Arabesque design in the Arts and Crafts style by the Boston firm of Foster Brothers.
Stamped on verso, 1052 / 1633 Early 20th century Sight 29 1/2 x 24 1/2; width 6 1/2 inches Collection of Edgar Smith.

Lowy maintains the largest collection of fine antique frames in the country from the 16th to 19th century in the country. Combining old world craftsmanship and cutting-edge technology in the framing and restoration of fine art, the firm counts major museums, collectors, and gallery owners as long-standing clients. The charming six-story atelier’s upper floors house photographic, conservation and framing workshops. On the day of our visit we were taken on a behind-the-scenes tour catching a glimpse of a conservator repairing an early Botero and then on to observing a gilder painstakingly work on a reproduction of an antique Venetian frame for a Picasso, A visit to Lowy, a family-run enterprise, is in and of itself a treat. The staff is warm, gracious, well informed and, if you’re lucky, the family’s second-generation patriarch Larry Shar will be on hand. On view through April 15, 2011.

All images courtesy of Julius Lowy Frame and Restoring Company, Inc.
Photography: Michael Tramis
http://www.lowyonline.com/, (212) 861-8585.